Jaraula blows away Del Monte field with 63
Talk about not giving anyone a chance.
Reymon Jaraula put the pedal to the metal and never let up on Friday in Bukidnon, shooting a course record nine-under-par 63 to turn what was a tight start to the final round of the ICTSI Del Monte Championship into a nine-shot victory over Rupert Zaragosa.
“I didn’t expect it to be this convincing,” Jaraula said in Filipino, almost in disbelief at how he gunned down seven birdies in 17 holes before putting the finishing touches on his fourth PGT win with an eagle 3 on the 72nd. “Everything just clicked for me today. Everything.”
After shooting a couple of 68s that sandwiched a second-round 66, Jaraula tallied an eye-popping 265 over the tree-lined layout, with Zaragosa not able to do anything about it after a second straight 71 had him salvaging second by a shot over Japan’s Atsushi Ueda, who fired a 68.
But more than the score, Jaraula, who started the day just one shot up on Zaragosa, is happiest about another thing.
“It’s nice to win where it (love for golf and career) started,” he said as a big gallery followed the final flight and cheered every shot of the homegrown bet. “This could go down as the best win of my career.”
Jaraula’s fourth win came after he opened the round with the bitter loss in 2023 to Clyde Mondilla in mind.
“I just told myself not to be reckless out there,” he said as he now erased the course standard Mondilla established two years ago in beating him by a shot. “Even if I had the lead, I really had to stay focused.”
Russell Bautista closed out with a 69 to finish fourth, 11 shots off, with Mondilla winding up another shot back, also after a 69 to be tied with Korean Jung Jae-hyun (69) and Arnold Villacencio (67).
“This is definitely something nice that I hope I can take all the way to Davao,” said the 33-year-old.
